


Into Shadows, Part 3

by skyblue_reverie



Series: Into Shadows [3]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-10 21:27:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20534861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyblue_reverie/pseuds/skyblue_reverie
Summary: My take on Into Darkness, less dark and with 100% more Pike and McCoy.This part - a discussion of the ethics of the mission to Qo'noS (replacing the shuttle discussion) and getting the Enterprise ready for launch.“Hang on,” Bones interjected. “I’m still stuck on the part where we fire missiles on an unsuspecting planet, causing who-knows-how-many casualties, and kill a man who hasn’t even been tried and convicted of any crime.”





	Into Shadows, Part 3

Jim stared at Pike in disbelief. “Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. Admiral Marcus wants you to do the very thing that he just punished me for?” He would’ve laughed if it weren’t for the seriousness of the situation.

They were sitting in the living room of Chris’s restored Victorian, Chris in an armchair, Bones and Jim at opposite ends of the couch facing it. Pike had commed him and asked him to come over immediately to discuss something urgent. Bones, of course, was already there, having spent the night with Pike.

“Trust me, Jim, I’m aware of the irony,” Chris said in a desert-dry tone.

“Hang on,” Bones interjected. “I’m still stuck on the part where we fire missiles on an unsuspecting planet, causing who-knows-how-many casualties, and kill a man who hasn’t even been tried and convicted of any crime.” Bones’ voice was even, but Jim knew him well enough to hear the anger boiling beneath it.

Chris sighed. “Len, I know it’s not ideal – “

Bones cut him off. “Not ideal? Not fucking _ideal_? Have you ever heard the phrase 'innocent until proven guilty'? Do we not believe in that any longer? 'Cause I sure as hell didn't get that memo. Not even to mention that we’d most likely be taking innocent Klingon lives - civilian lives - if we fire torpedoes at the planet, and we’d be risking a war that would certainly cost thousands of lives, probably hundreds of thousands. And you say it’s not _ideal?_” His voice had been rising throughout this speech and now he was shouting. Jim winced. He could’ve told Pike not to word it like that. Despite the fact that Pike and Bones had been together for a while now, Pike still didn’t know Bones the way he did. He suppressed his somewhat smug pleasure at that thought. It wasn’t the time.

Chris was replying, obviously keeping his own calm with an effort. “Len, Marcus has located the area that Harrison and Carol beamed to. It’s in the Ketha province, a region that has been uninhabited for decades. There’s only going to be one casualty. And I know he hasn’t been convicted, but he’s got Carol, for god’s sake. What more proof of wrongdoing do we need? And even aside from that, he’s got too much intel to risk him spilling to the Klingons.”

“This is _wrong_, Chris. Morally wrong. You know that. The rescue, fine. But the rest? This mission could start a war. It’s by definition immoral. Please take the time to think it through.” McCoy’s voice had dropped back into a lower register and he was gazing at Chris, his eyes pleading for Chris to reconsider.

Chris spoke gently. “I’m sorry, Len. There’s no other way.” Jim winced again. Wrong thing to say.

“There’s always another way,” said Bones, and now his voice was cold. “Jim would’ve found it if he was still in charge.” And with that, he got up and walked out of the room. The front door slammed, and Jim saw a look of pain cross Chris’s face before he blanked it again.

Jim appreciated Bones’ vote of confidence, he really did, but it put him in a damn awkward spot with Chris. He warily gauged Chris’s body language, but all he could tell was that Chris was tense. Hell, he was too.

“Well, that went well,” Chris said wryly.

Jim shrugged uneasily. “He’s always going to have a problem with violence. He takes that oath of his pretty damn seriously.”

“And I love that about him,” Chris said simply. “But you and me, Jim, we’re wired differently. We know that sometimes force is necessary, even if we wish it weren’t. But speak freely, please. Is there another option here that I’m missing?”

“I mean, despite what Bones said, I know you’ve thought it through. The only other option is a landing party, and that’s got just as many risks, maybe more.”

“It wouldn’t be ‘morally wrong,’ though,” Chris said, only slightly sarcastically.

“Maybe not, but it would put the away team in jeopardy, whoever went to Qo’noS to capture Harrison,” Jim said.

Chris nodded in agreement, obviously having reached the same conclusion himself. “Exactly. And if you or I or both of us went on that away mission, our lives would be in danger, and we may not mind that, but Len would. Jim, if something happens to one or both of us, it would kill him. I’d rather bomb the hell out of Harrison from far away and accept the fact that Len is going to be pissed about it, maybe forever, than risk causing him the pain of losing one of us.”

“It’s not an easy decision.” Jim was almost grateful that he wasn’t the one who had to make this call. Almost.

“But you’d take the landing party option.” Chris’s eyes and voice were direct.

“Yeah, probably,” Jim admitted. “But you know me, why take the safe solution when the riskier option is available?”

“And the fact that Len might lose one or both of us in the process?”

“He can’t wrap us in bubble wrap, however much he might want to. We’re Starfleet officers. There are risks involved, risks that we all knowingly accepted when we signed up. Him as much as you and me. And one of those risks is that you might lose people that you care about in the line of duty.”

Chris shook his head. “Maybe so, but if there’s a way to minimize that risk, or avoid it altogether… Is that worth a man’s life, a man who I know to be a terrorist, a murderer and a kidnapper, but who hasn’t actually been convicted of any crime? Hell, I don’t know.”

“Well, while you ponder that, I’m going to go catch up with Bones, see if I can talk him down so he’s not still snorting steam out of his nostrils next time you two see each other.” He paused for a moment, then added, awkwardly, “Thank you. Again. You know, for defending me, and for taking me on as your first officer. I won’t let you down, sir.”

At that, Chris smiled a little, for the first time since they'd heard about the bombing in London. “I know you won’t, son.”

***

As Jim exited the shuttle and boarded the Enterprise, he heard Scotty’s familiar tones barking out, “No! I'm not signing anything! Now, get these bloody things off my ship!” Then he spotted Jim across the shuttle bay. “Captain – er, Commander!”

“ls there a problem, Mister Scott?” Jim asked, eyeing the man standing behind Scotty, wearing an unmarked uniform that proclaimed "Starfleet Intelligence" as surely as if it were emblazoned across his chest.

“Aye, sir. I was just explaining to this gentleman that I cannae authorize any weapons on board this ship without knowing what's inside them.”

“Mister Scott, I understand your concerns, but we need these torpedoes on board.”

“Due respect, sir, but photon torpedoes run on fuel. Now, I cannae detect the type of fuel that's in the compartments on these torpedoes because it's shielded. Now, I asked for the specifications, but he said – “ he jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

“It's classified,” said the man, with a slight smirk.

“It's classified,” repeated Scotty sarcastically. “So I said, no specs, no signature!”

Sulu shouted down from a walkway above them. “Capt – uh, Commander. Flight check's complete. We're good to go, sir.”

“Thank you, Mister Sulu,” said Kirk.

Scotty apparently took this as a cue to end the conversation. “Now if you'll excuse me, sir, I have a warp core to prime.” He started walking away, then spotted Keenser, perched on one of the torpedoes. “Get down!” he yelled.

Jim darted after him. “I need you to approve those weapons,” he said, holding onto his patience with an effort.

“Do you know what this is, Commander?” interrupted Scotty, pointing at the Enterprise’s warp core.

“I don't have time for a lecture, Scotty.”

“Do you know what this is?” Scotty repeated, more emphatically.

Jim knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere unless he played along. He sighed heavily. “It's a warp core.”

“It's a radioactive catastrophe waiting to happen," Scotty corrected. "A subtle shift in magnetic output from, say, firing one or more of _six dozen torpedoes_ with an unknown payload could set off a chain reaction which would kill every living thing on this ship. Letting those torpedoes on board the Enterprise is the last straw.”

“What was the first straw?” Jim was nonplussed to realize that apparently Scotty had been gathering a list of grievances and hadn’t ever bothered to tell him about it.

Scotty stared in disbelief. “What was the…? There are plenty of straws. How about Starfleet confiscating my transwarp equation? And now some madman's using it to hop across the galaxy. Where d'you think he got it from?”

Jim shook his head, tried to get the discussion back on track. “We have our orders, Scotty.”

Scotty leaned in now, earnest. “That's what scares me. This is clearly a military operation. ls that what we are now? Because I thought we were explorers.”

Jim paused, torn. Scotty was right, of course. But the torpedoes needed to be on board. “Look, if I get you access to the specs, and promise that we won’t fire the torpedoes without your okay, will you sign for the damn things?”

Scotty looked at him suspiciously. “How are you planning to get me those specs? Your clearance might not be high enough.”

Jim patted him on the shoulder. “Probably better not to ask. Plausible deniability and all that.”

Scotty grumbled, but finally gave in. “Aye, fine. But you get me those specs or we’re not firing a damn thing!”

Crisis averted, Jim made his way onto the bridge, falling into place behind Pike’s shoulder. Bones was already on the bridge, standing next to the captain's chair. He didn't really have any reason to be there, but then that had never stopped him when Jim was captain, so Jim supposed it wouldn't stop him now either. He was obviously still angry at Chris, had his arms folded across his chest and wasn't looking in Chris's direction, but he acknowledged Jim with a nod and a softening of his eyes that probably no one but Jim could read.

Jim leaned in close to Pike's ear and quietly explained what he'd had to promise Scotty. Pike nodded, then pushed a few buttons on the captain's chair, and said quietly to Jim, "Done. I've sent the specs to Scotty, and my clearance _is_ high enough. As soon as we're on our way, go talk to Scotty and find out whether those torpedoes are safe to launch." 

Then Pike turned to Sulu. “All right, let’s ride,” he said. Then he added with a mischievous wink, “And don’t forget the parking brake this time.”

“Yes, sir,” Sulu said, flushing slightly. As they left behind the spacedock, Jim felt the thrill that he always felt when they were heading out into the unknown. It would never get old for him, that thirst for the next adventure.

Pike next turned to Uhura. “Lieutenant Uhura, open a shipwide channel,” he said.

When the channel was open, Pike spoke. “Attention, crew of the Enterprise. This is Captain Pike. As most of you know, there was a terrorist attack on a Starfleet facility in London yesterday, and 42 men and women were killed. What many of you may not know is that the same terrorist responsible for this bombing, a former Starfleet officer named John Harrison, has also kidnapped Lieutenant Carol Marcus, daughter of Admiral Alexander Marcus, and my goddaughter. Harrison has fled our system with his hostage and is hiding on the Klingon homeworld, somewhere he believes we are unwilling to go. Per Admiral Marcus, it is essential that our presence go undetected. Tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire have been high. Any provocation could lead to all-out war.” Chris paused, turning to meet Jim’s eyes. Jim gave him a small nod. He’d support Pike, whichever way he went. A hint of warmth came into Pike’s eyes, as if he knew what Jim was thinking. Then Pike turned to Bones and the silence seemed to stretch out into infinity. Jim could see the desperate urging in Bones' eyes, knew Bones was wordlessly begging him not to use the torpedoes.

PIke finally took a deep breath and continued speaking, his eyes still locked with Bones'. “I will personally lead a landing party to an abandoned city on the surface of Qo’noS where we will rescue Lieutenant Marcus and capture the fugitive John Harrison, then return him to earth so he can face judgment for his actions. I will need each and every one of you at your very best to ensure that we succeed. That’s all. Pike out.”

Jim saw Bones' eyes flutter closed in sheer relief and his mouth was forming the words, "Thank you, Chris," even though no sound came out. Then his eyes snapped open as he processed all of what Pike had said. "Wait a minute, what the hell do you mean, _you're_ leading the landing party?!"

Chris and Jim shared a brief glance of perfect understanding. There was just no pleasing Bones sometimes. But Jim knew that neither of them would've had him any other way.


End file.
